The bus stopped in town and Steve lifted little Elsie down onto the snowy pavement. After that he helped Jenny down, who rewarded him with a grateful smile.
Elsie was Jenny’s granddaughter, not his. Another woman might think he was trying to take over her grandparenting role, but not Jenny. Steve knew she was far too generous for petty jealousies like that.
Once off the bus, Steve glanced up at the sky. It looked like an old grey quilt draped over the surrounding rooftops, every now and then shedding feathery flakes onto the heads of the pre-Christmas crowd.
‘Right then!’ Steve said.
With little Elsie firmly wedged between them, Steve and Jenny wound their way through the streets, heads down against the icy winter wind. Steve couldn’t help wondering if there had ever been a summer earlier. But, yes, last summer had been a hot one and had seemed to last forever.
It was the heat that had driven Jenny to kick off her sandals in the first place. She liked
